Welcome to GCAP 631. As the first courses you will take in your program, I certainly hope the coming months will be a positive and inspiring experience for you!
This course critically examines a wide selection of contemporary counselling models according to their evidentiary support, guiding assumptions, historical and cultural context, and relationship to common factors of change. The intent of this course is to foster an open, inquisitive, appreciative, and flexible attitude towards counselling models associated with the four primary domains of human functioning: cognitive, behavioural, emotional, and relational. Students will also learn about, and critique, the various models of psychotherapy integration.
It is expected that, prior to taking GCAP 631, you will have already taken an undergraduate counselling models course. Having done so may lead you to worry that the present course will merely repeat what you have already learned. This, I believe, is unlikely. What sets GCAP 631 apart from other, similarly themed, courses is its relentless focus on critical analysis. Most counselling models courses aim to teach models so that students can then go apply them. GCAP 631 also teaches models so you can apply them; however, in this instance, in a decidedly informed fashion. “Informed” in the sense that the “truths” of our counselling models are invariably constructed from myriad assumptions, which when held to close inspection, often reveal two notable features. First, that power dynamics are embedded within every model’s assumptive underpinnings, and second, that when broken down into their constituent parts, there are often striking similarities in these assumptions across models that otherwise are viewed as conceptually distinct.
Let me be frank about the intent behind exposing these two features. Simply put, it is to enable a commitment towards humility, curiosity, flexibility, and mutuality in relation to the models we draw upon in practice to help the clients we serve. Such commitments serve as a necessary antidote to the seductive pull of power and rigid certainty, which although they might quell our angst around being viewed as effective counsellors, will ultimately work against such aspirations. In part, these attitudes might undermine our effectiveness, because our assumptions, or the assumptions of our models, will not always correspond with those of our clients. Differing assumptions can bump into each other, and this bump can be a gentle nudge or a huge crash; critical analysis of our assumptions might, therefore, be the metaphorical equivalent of having a sturdy set of bumpers on one’s car to soften unforeseen collisions.
There are hundreds of therapeutic models to draw on, dozens of which are considered mainstream. Obviously, it would be impossible (and indeed ill-advised) for this course to attempt to provide you with an in-depth understanding of twenty of thirty counselling models. Certainly, you will dig deep into a dozen or so models to help provide you with a very good sampling of what is out there. Your understanding will be such that when watching a colleague or supervisor during your practicum you’ll be able to say, “I know where she snagged that intervention strategy from!” This ability will also come in handy when you take GCAP 671 and GCAP 635 (counselling skills and interventions, respectively), and here is why: The author of your text for these courses has deliberately de-identified (so to speak) the model-centric origins of the skills and interventions presented in the book. This is the author’s way of saying, “Let’s pay homage to the client in front of us, rather than originator of the tools we are using to be helpful.” Whether or not you agree with this position is of little consequence, because ultimately you will leave this program with a solid understanding of both a wide variety of counselling models and their associated skills and interventions.
As much as anything, the purpose of this course is to nurture a way of thinking about our counselling models, a way that opens up possibilities, refines understandings, and teaches us to hold lightly notions of ultimate, absolute, final truth. We need to be comfortable with ambiguity, to the point of embracing it, for seldom does counselling work fall into tightly woven, neat little packages.
Each of the readings, learning activities, and assignments in the course targets particular competencies. The competencies are divided into two groups in each course: (a) Disciplinary competencies are the outcomes related to the practice of counselling psychology; and (b) GCAP Program Outcomes, which reflect the transdisciplinary competencies expected of anyone who takes a masters degree within the Faculty of Health Disciplines. We have developed the disciplinary competencies for the program based on review of regulatory, certification, and accreditation standards in counselling psychology. The transdisciplinary program outcomes have also come from a number of sources, notably, the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, Canadian Degree Qualifications Framework.
We don't expect you to master these competencies in one week or even in one course. However, by the time you reach the end of your program, you should have mastered all of the disciplinary competencies we have identified as foundational to becoming a professional counsellor or psychologist as well as the specific GCAP program outcomes. The numbered items (e.g., 1, 2) are program level outcomes or competencies; the lettered items (e.g., a, b) are course level outcomes or competencies that will support your development of these program level competencies.
Analyze critically existing models of counselling and client change.
Evaluate the role of counselling models in effective counselling practice
Reflect critically on the sociohistorical contextual foundations of prevailing counselling models.
Assess the roles that culture and context, broadly defined, play in giving shape to theories and models of counselling.
Analyze critically and deconstruct the major assumptions that underpin models of counselling and client change.
Analyze critically the evidence-based practice movement in counselling.
Analyze critically and evaluate the relevance of the common factors in therapeutic change.
Apply a process of critical deconstruction to the analysis and evaluation of counselling models.
Apply theoretical lenses in a purposeful and systematic way in work with clients.
Integrate counselling models and research evidence related to client needs and preferences into counselling practice.
Assess the role that therapist characteristics play in facilitating positive counselling outcomes.
Demonstrate an open, flexible, and appreciative stance towards multiple and varied counselling models.
Track and evaluate counselling progress and outcomes.
Assess the role that client feedback plays in facilitating positive counselling outcomes.
Analyze critically the scientific foundation of the counselling psychology profession.
Reflect critically on the scientific underpinnings of the health disciplines.
Evaluate critically and integrate knowledge from a range of scholarly sources and disciplines.
Select appropriate information sources, including discerning the credibility of Internet, and evaluate critically the quality of current research and scholarship.
Analyze critically, synthesize, and competently apply knowledge to academic and professional tasks and roles.
Demonstrate critical reading, thinking, and writing.
Integrate, critique, and synthesize the professional literature.
Communicate and share knowledge effectively, professionally, and with integrity.
Apply academic and professional writing principles and standards consistently, using the appropriate discipline-specific style (i.e., Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association).
Demonstrate intellectual honesty and scholarly integrity; in particular, attribute ideas to their sources accurately, and use the appropriate discipline-specific style (i.e., Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association).
Model respect, professionalism, and socially responsible leadership in all relationships with individuals and systems.
Conduct yourself in a professional manner across all settings and situations.
Develop and maintain effective relationships and interact in a positive solution-focused manner.
Collaborate respectfully and effectively with clients, peers, colleagues, and systems.
Demonstrate leadership in complex and unpredictable environments within organizations, communities, and the profession.
Navigate conflict and negotiate differences in perspective effectively and respectfully.
Assume responsibility for and engage in reflective practice to support continued competency development.
Value self-awareness and engage actively in continued exploration of values, belief, and assumptions.
Engage in critical reflectivity both during and after professional activity and act upon these reflections.
Self-assess competence accurately, recognize current limitations of competence, and plan appropriately to enhance attitudes, knowledge, and/or skills.
Capitalize effectively on technology for both knowledge transfer and interpersonal communication and collaboration.
Select and apply contemporary and emerging information technology to support scholarship, knowledge translation and development, leadership, and communication.
Establish a professional digital identity and presence through appropriate use of technology, social media, and web resources.
GCAP 631 is designed to provide a dynamic and interactive learning process in an online format. Resources include a list of readings and links to supplementary resources from journals and other texts.
In broad strokes, the structure of this course involves learning the constituent elements of critical analysis in the first half of the course (Weeks 1–7), and then applying these to specific counselling models in the second half of the course. A unique, challenging, and exciting component of the latter half of the course (Weeks 9–12) is the use of a wiki platform to structure and foster your learning. The advantage of using a wiki resides in its ability to facilitate accountable, respectful, and creative collaboration, thus harnessing the collective power of group work in a way that makes learning efficient and enjoyable. Week 8 has been set aside for you to prepare for the wiki assignment.
The structure and process of the online weeks require that all students progress at a similar rate throughout this portion of the course. During each week (aside from Week 8), you will be expected to respond to the thought-provoking questions that are posted in the weekly class discussions. Once the questions or prompts have been posted, you may contribute your ideas at any time. You are expected to log on at least twice a week, although logging on several times each week is desirable inasmuch as it will enhance the discussion among the participants.
Course Author Bio: Simon Nuttgens
I obtained my first paid work as a counsellor during the second year of my Master’s program in 1996. Aside from a one-year hiatus, I have been seeing clients regularly ever since. Throughout this time, I have always loved the ideas that inform our work; that is, the theories and models upon which we base our practice. When I began this journey, I embraced a steadfast loyalty to narrative and solution-focused therapy. I learned both to the point of overlearning, and could pretty much hear Michael White or Insoo Kim Berg whispering instructions in my ear when I felt stuck in a session. I was enthralled by these approaches and placed them on a perch high above all others. This all changed, however, when I began my doctoral internship at the Eastside Family Centre (EFC) in Calgary. The Eastside Family Centre provided, and still provides, single-session, walk-in counselling to individual and families at no cost. Aside from adhering to a brief, pragmatic approach to counselling, EFC uses a team approach in which a group of counsellors collaborate to support each client who comes in for counselling. Such collaboration occurs through pre- and post-session consultation, as well as having the team behind a one-way mirror.
What struck me most about my time at EFC was the way in which seemingly disparate counselling models could productively co-exist within the same client consultation. For me, this came as a breath of fresh air after learning, through my graduate studies, of the often acrimonious relationship between proponents of different counselling models. Clearly, therapeutic value was being derived from different counselling models for the same presenting concern, so why should we not make room at the table for all counselling ideas? Might there be other factors that contribute to positive therapeutic experiences, apart from the specific counselling model used?
[Spoiler alert: You’ll learn more about such “factors” in Week 6]
I believe that my experiences at the EFC sparked a curiosity that, through the ensuing years, has led to a fully ignited passion to question ceaselessly, and to contemplate deeply, the nature of counselling models and the role they play in best serving our therapeutic ambitions and service. I hope that you, too, will find this passion, develop it in this course, and carry it with you throughout your career.
